Pardon the BloggEruption

National Pastime(s)?

Fresh from averting total fan disaster by finally inking a labor deal, MLB is at it again. This is somewhat old news to Astros fans who have seen the threats made to AstrosConnection and Astros Daily, but the sheer gall shown by the MLB's sharks is still both amazing and sickening. Kudos go to the Astros front office and Uncle Drayton himself who helped intervene for the Astros fan sites, brokering a deal to allow limited use of images as long as full credit is given.

The clincher, however, is at the bottom of the article.

"To the extent that it's purely a noncommercial site devoted to commentary about the team, we're supportive and happy that fans are excited about our sport," says Paula Guibault, NFL senior counsel. "It's not an issue for us."

Now is there any wonder why the NFL is supplanting (or already has) MLB as our national pastime? The NFLhas its financial house in order (though there are issues with the salary cap), it has at least some semblance of parity, it has a consistent, positive PR department, and it goes out of its way to take care of its fans. Contrast that with Bud Selig and his Gang of 30 whose dysfunction has truly reached epic proportions, and who consistently do everything it can to anger its fans.

Note that I used "NFL" and "MLB" above. I'm still not convinced that football is more popular than baseball in America today, particularly in terms of participation and interest at all levels. My guess is that football gets the massive crowds and TV ratings because there are so few games in a season and so they become huge spectacles. Baseball's many games are, individually, not nearly as meaningful as one football game, and so fans with an emotional investment in teams do not need to watch any particular game nearly as much as in football. Participation wise, baseball is an easier sport for people of all ages to play while remaining true to the professional game. It's also much simpler in execution, though not in concept. (Football's concept is simple -- carry ball into endzone. Football's execution and rules are intricate and much more difficult to grasp.)